


Where Dreams Come True

by AlyxRae



Series: just say the word [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amusement Parks, Disney Date, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Keith is a model, Keith is still smitten, M/M, Not Beta Read, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, if you wanted some background info, it's fluffy as all hell, lance is a disney nerd, lance is a rockstar, really though, they've been dating for about 3 years at this point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-05 06:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11572521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyxRae/pseuds/AlyxRae
Summary: Keith and Lance go on a well deserved vacation. And what better place to unwind then the magic kingdom?(you don't have to read Say the Word to appreciate this fluffiness, but if your new and want to see how these nerds came together please check it out!)





	1. Day One: California Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> *warning. i am a fucking Disney nerd. that being said, be prepared for way too many ride descriptions, what is basically me drooling on my keyboard for Disney food, and basically what amounts to me really wanting to go on vacation and instead, imagining one for these nerds. enjoy.* 
> 
> (Also, here's a [map](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ch6biTFCV4c/VhqkyJIXk3I/AAAAAAAAY2o/x7JrLcZdrxQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-10-10%2Bat%2B11.38.05%2BAM.png) of California Adventure, just so you know where everything is.)

“Y’know, Hunk is going to be pissed that we came here without him again.” Keith pointed out, getting a good look at his hair in the rearview mirror.

Lance was sitting the passenger seat, holding a small pile of bobby pins in his hand for his boyfriend. “Eh, he’ll get over it.” He shrugged.

“He said, and I quote ‘Lance McClain if you going to Disneyland without me again, I will disconnect your Wi-Fi and then binge watch all your favorite shows and spoil them for you over the course of the next year.’”

“An empty threat.”

“I dunno, the big guy can get pretty scary.”

“Yeah, to anyone who doesn’t know him like I do. One look at these big blue eyes and Hunk’ll forgive me in no time. Also getting him a couple bags of kettle corn helps. ”

Keith snorted and grabbed a bobby pin. “If you say so. But if I come home one day and you’re on the couch crying because Hunk spoiled Stranger Things, I am not taking pity on you. Also, how have you not finished that yet?”

Lance shrugged. “I like taking my time, babe. Savoring the good stuff.”

“You just don’t like endings.”

“True, true. Now are you done yet?”

Keith glared at his boyfriend and pinned back another section of hair. Sure all this work would probably mean nothing after their first excursion on California Screamin’, but Keith was nothing if he wasn’t determined.

“My hair dried weird. Unless you want to walk around with a guy who has a frizzled poodle on his head.”

Lance laughed. “Aww I love your poodle fluff just as much as I love your mullet.”

Keith tried not blush but ultimately failed. “Whatever. I’m ready, let’s go.”

The parking garage was a buzz with activity. Keith and Lance had arrived rather early but despite that, they somehow ended up having to park on the very top of the parking structure. The whole way up, Keith was grumbling, annoyed that their car was going to be sitting in the sun.

It was a bright and beautiful day in Southern California. The air was still a little heavy with the memory of rain falling just yesterday and the clouds were giant white cotton balls drifting across the sky. In the distance, the mountains were actually visible without the haze of smog that blanketed most of the area. Rain had such an amazing effect on the land. And an even more interesting effect on Lance.

The tall young man seemed even more lively than usual as he hopped out of the car and slung his bag over his shoulders. He breathed deeply, sighing happily as he made his way over to Keith.

“Kinda wish it was still raining today. Cloudy, at least.” Lance’s hand found Keith’s and the two began to head to the escalators.

“Uh, no thanks. I prefer sunshine when I’m in a crowded amusement park.” Keith countered.

“Nah, you don’t understand, babe. When it rains, all the weak people leave and lines cut down by like, half. Sure some of the outdoor stuff is closed, like the Tea Cups, but it’s still so much fun. Also that’s when they bring out the ponchos.”

“Ponchos?”

“Yup. I swear I have like ten of them stuffed at my parents place. They have umbrellas that you can buy, too.”

“That just sounds like another way to for them to steal your money.”

“I’m collecting memories, Keith.”

“Yeah and losing hundreds of dollars.”

Lance retaliated by pulling Keith close and kissing him.

It’s not like they didn’t kiss often. Keith could hardly remember a day when he didn’t wake up to a peck on the cheek or a quick press on his lips. They’re days apart were growing few and far between after they started living together a year ago. Keith had also cut down on his travel time, keeping his trips abroad to two weeks at most. It was harder being away from home when he knew he had someone waiting for him.

Even though he was no stranger to Lance’s affection, Keith still got flustered when surprised like that. It was such a domestic gesture, one that Keith adored. He liked being on the receiving end of surprise kisses and of his boyfriends warm hugs. He loved the attention Lance would give him when they were in a crowd and the lengths he would go to make Keith feel comfortable. These simple acts were like sirens to Keith, reminding him over and over again just how much Lance loved him and just how much he loved the boy back.

Of course that didn’t entirely distract him from realizing that Lance was trying to avoid the subject. Keith pinched Lance’s side, earning a startled squawk.

“Ow!”

“Don’t think you can wiggle your way out of that argument, McClain. You know I’m right.”

“Memories Keith. I’m making memories!” he tried to argue.

“Then take a picture if you’re so concerned about making memories.”

“Alright.” Lance pulled them off to the side and grabbed his phone. With the park in the background, Lance snapped a quick picture of the two of them. Keith barely had time to put on a decent smile. “Aww we look so cute!”

“Take another one.” Keith insisted.

Lance frowned. “Why?”

“Because I know you want to put that on Instagram and I look like shit.” He could see the laugh Lance was trying to suppress. For as much as he denied it, Keith was very picky about what photos of him he let Lance post. Of course his boyfriend always asked before putting anything online, but since Keith posed for pictures for a living, he refused to put out anything but his best even for a simple Instagram post.

After a few more tries, Keith was satisfied and led the way to the trams.

A vacation was well needed for the both of them. New York Fashion week was coming up fast and Keith was already mentally preparing himself for the inevitable chaos. Lance on the other hand had been busy working on a documentary. Seeing that online videos were the launching pad for Voltron, the band was working with YouTube to do a small series for YouTube Red, showing the world just how they’d become rock stars all thanks to the website. From the sound of things, Lance and the others were having a really fun time reminiscing. Keith was excited to see the end results as well.

The path the Disneyland was a crowded one which came to no surprise to either one of the boys. It was the beginning of August, right before school started and everyone in the area was trying to have a bit of fun before the monotony of real life caught up with them. Of course Keith and Lance were wrapped up in that category too.   

The ride on the trams was uneventful, apart from the fact that Lance could recite the announcement that played over the speakers perfectly (both in English and in Spanish). Once to their destination, the pair hurried past the slower crowds headed to the parks. Once they were passed security, Lance laid out his game plan.

“Okay, so we have two days to try and fit everything in-“

“Fit everything in?” Keith frowned. “I thought we did everything last time?”

“Oh Keith. My darling, my sweet, little Keith. Last time was nothing compared to what I got planned. It was like, going over the highlights of a game instead of actually watching it. Trust me, this time things are going to be a lot different.”

“I don’t know if I should be scared or excited.”

“If I’m being honest, a little bit of both might be good.”

Sighing, Keith followed along while Lance practically danced to the entrance of California Adventure. Once inside, Keith couldn’t help but smile. The amount of detail put into this place was astounding. One step and you were immersed in the 1920’s, complete with a red trolley chugging down the street and a gaggle of newsboys cracking jokes on the corner. The only thing that ruined the atmosphere was the heard of tourist wearing fanny packs and sneakers.

Having skipped breakfast, Keith began to wander to the fruit stand that hid behind the trolley station. He didn’t even get close before Lance was pulling him down Buena Vista Street in a rush. Keith whined, looking at the containers of pineapple longingly.

“Laannce…” he groaned.

“Gotta move. Gotta get a Fast Pass before they all run out.”

Keith had to practically run to keep up. “The park just opened an hour ago. We’ll be fine.”

They were, in fact fine. Kind of.

The line to get a Fast Pass was stupidly long and by the time they got their passes, it was for a return time of 7:45 at night. Keith read the little card again and again, wondering how in the hell they got a pass for so late when the park just opened at 8 am. Looking at it, he realized it was for a ride they didn’t go on last time.

“Radiator Springs Racers…” he mumbled.

“Yeah. It’s awesome and totally worth the wait.” Lance pulled out his wallet and stuck both passes in for safe keeping. “Now c’mon. I know you’re hungry and I’ve got the perfect place for some breakfast.”

A little ways down the path was the entrance to Cars Land, marked by a giant billboard welcoming guests to Radiator Springs. The street lay out before them looked stunning, with the sun only barely hanging over the perfectly replicated mountains in the distance. In practically any light, those mountains looked real, but there was something about the morning light and the fresh air left over from the rain that brought the whole thing together. Keith grinned and let himself get swept up in the moment, forgetting everything he had going on in the real world and focusing only on the one in front of him.

Lance took him to Flo’s Diner, a perfect replica of the building in the movie. It was a typical breakfast menu but no less delicious. The pair gathered their trays and sat in the very back of the restaurant where the wide windows opened up to a stunning view of the ride they were going on later. Keith sat facing the windows, watching as every so often colorful cars zoomed around desert landscape.

“Dude, you are so spacey today.” Lance chuckled, taking a sip of his orange juice.

“Huh?”

“I was asking if you wanted to paint the living room when we get back. Shiro said that he has tarps and stuff left over we can-“

“Nope.” Keith continued to watch the cars race outside.

Lance’s hand froze in mid motion, his fork full of potatoes and eggs. “No? Uh, are you sure? I mean, we already have the color picked out and-“

“Don’t you remember what you told me the first time we came?”

“I talk a _lot_ , so you going to have to be more specific, hun.”

“Did you just burn yourself?”

“Huh, I guess I did. Oops.”

Keith laughed, covering his mouth to stop any food from flying out. He took a moment to swallow and sat up. “Well in-between your shrieking over Minnie Mouse, you said that this place was like another world and that while you here when you were a kid, your parents had a rule. ‘No real world stuff is allowed passed the gates’. Right?”

Keith looked up and realized that Lance was staring right at him with a dopey looking smile on his face. The heat that crawled up to his cheeks was spreading fast and soon enough he could feel it on the back of his neck.

“Do you remember everything I say?” Lance asked, truly curious.

“Not everything.” _Just most things._ He thought.

The knowing look on his boyfriends face made him believe that Lance could read minds. Instead of pressing the matter, he turned back to his food. “You’re right. Mama McClain always said no mixing the real world with the magical one. Now, what do you say we finish this stuff and go see _It’s Tough to be a Bug_?”

“What the hell is that?”

“Oh it’s _loads_ of fun. Trust me.”

Keith did trust Lance, which might have been a mistake. The 4D show Lance insisted on going to was the things nightmares were made of. It started out all happy and cute, with characters from _A Bugs Life_ going on and on about how hard it is to actually be a bug. That is until the movie’s antagonist popped up from out of nowhere. Literally. Keith actually jumped as the biggest animatronic he’d ever seen sprang up from who knows where and started moving like it was alive. Somewhere behind them, a child screamed.

Then things took a turn for the worse. Suddenly it was a show documenting all the horrible aspects of being a little bug in a human world. And since it was a 4D show that meant they actually felt things. There was a giant whoosh of air that pressed down on them as a fly swatter appeared on screen. After that, the whole theater was filled with fog like they were being blanketed in bug spray. A sharp burst of air poked them in the back to imitate a hornet sting and lastly, giant spiders dropped from the ceiling, one of which was hanging right over them.

Keith didn’t want to admit he was a little terrified, but when one of the exit doors opened to usher out a crying child in the middle of the show, he kind of wanted to join them. All the while, Lance was stifling his laughter. The bastard knew exactly what was going to happen and gave no warning whatsoever.

The scary bits ended with the villain getting snatched up by a chameleon and the show wrapped up with a very out of place song and dance number. It did not, by any means make up for the horror show they just sat through.

As one last little prank on the audience, there was an announcement asking everyone to remain seated for a moment. The seats then moved like there were rollers inside them, making it feel like they were sitting on a pile squirming bugs. Keith actually yelped at the surprise and quiet ungracefully jumped into Lance’s lap.

Once his heart rate settled down and they were trudging up to the exit, Keith punched Lance in the shoulder.

“How that hell is that a kids show?! And why didn’t you warn me??”

Lance was double over laughing, one hand clenching his side. “Ah man, that was priceless! You should have seen your face when Hopper showed up. Damn, I should have recorded that.”

“If you had, I would have taken your phone and thrown it up on that bear- mountain- thing.”

“Grizzly Peak? Yo! We should go on that next!”

“Lance-“ before Keith could finish his thought, Lance was barreling down the path. The crowd parted for him like he was royalty giving Keith no real reason not to follow. He considered ‘loosing’ Lance in the crowd, but given that the man-child was over 6ft tall, that was kind of hard to do. Keith suppressed another sigh and pulled out his phone to document the chase on Snap Chat.

The ride attached the giant bear shaped mountain was a water ride that wasn’t getting too much traffic this early in the morning. The line only lasted about fifteen minutes before the pair was strapped down into what was basically a giant inner tube.

A few waterfalls later and Keith was soaked. All the work he’d done to fix his hair was effectively ruined and he could feel that his socks were soaked through and through. However, Lance had a plan and as soon as they were off the ride.

Across from Grizzly River Run was a place called the Wilderness Explore Camp. A clear nod to the movie _Up_ (which even Pidge admits to crying too), it was a giant playground of sorts. There were slides, a small zip line, and tunnels kids could crawl through. The biggest attraction though was the large climbable canopy. Rope nets made up the floor and were the only way to climb to the top to an observation deck.

One look at Keith, and the Lance was bolting to the entrance. It was a race to the top, dodging parents and children alike all while trying not to fall and suffer a crushing defeat. Lance somehow managed to get his foot stuck and fell face first into rope net. Keith triumphantly blazed passed him and won the competition. He did go back for Lance. Eventually.

The plan had worked and their clothes were feeling significantly drier after the little bout of activity. The two continued on, Lance lamenting about a rope burn on his chin and Keith laughing at him the whole way.

As the day went on, it became apparent that Lance was determined to hit up every ride. After going through Grizzly Peak, they headed off to Paradise Pier where they immediately ran into the Little Mermaid ride. Lance pointed out the seashells embedded into the concrete as the waited in line, saying how each land and each ride in the theme park had its own unique little charms.

After their visit under the sea (which Lance sang aloud to quite brilliantly) they pair went on the more random rides that Keith never really looked twice at. There was Goofys’ Sky School, The Golden Zephyr, Jumping Jellyfish, Silly Symphony Swings, and Mickey’s Fun Wheel that all kind fit the beach carnival theme this area had going on. All of that build up lead to one of the main attractions of California Adventure, and that was California Screamin’.

“… and did I tell you, it’s the fasts ride in both parks. It goes from 0 to 60 in like, four seconds.” Lance was rambling the entire time they were in line, his hands moving wildly to try and keep up. “And see those blue cover thingy on the drops? They’re called scream tubes.”

“That sounds creepy.” Keith commented. He found it kind of adorable how excited his boyfriend was getting spewing all these random facts. “Why do they call them that?”

“It’s to keep all the sound down, since there’s a residential area close by. It’d kinda suck if all you heard during the day were people screaming their lungs out on a rollercoaster.”

“Yeah, I’d move within the week if that happened.”

Lance agreed. He continued spouting fact after fact until they were finally seated on the ride. Loud music blared by his ear as the ride took them to the starting point, where they would be literally launched into the action. Keith took a few deep breaths, getting ready for the 0 to 60 takeoff. He liked roller coasters, loved them actually, but the build up to the ride always left him a little jittery and anxious. The countdown blared in their ears and then they were shot off into the first big drop. 

* * *

 

If Keith’s hair was a poodle before, now it was a bird’s nest. Lance was cackling, actually cackling at the state of his boyfriend’s insane hairdo after they exited the ride. Keith covered his face with his hands as Lance took a quick snap, sending it off to their group of friends.

“There was a loop Lance. We were upside down. Of _course_ my hair is going to get a little messed up.” Keith pulled out the bobby pins on by one, shaking out his hair when they had finally been all removed.

“You look like a cat who stuck their tail in a power outlet.” Lance teased. Grumbling, Keith spun Lance around and unzipped his backpack. After digging around for a few minutes, he pulled out a comb and began going to work.

Despite making fun of him, Lance held up his phone with the front facing camera on, acting like a mirror for Keith. Trying to do something like this in the bathroom was pretty much impossible. The bathrooms near the big ticket rides like this one were bursting from the seams with people and Keith didn’t feel like trying to muscle his way inside. Just when he slid the last pin into place, an excited squeal caught their attention.

Keith had become and expert at recognizing Voltron fans and this was no exception. He was also pretty good at judging what kind of fans they were. Ranging from the polite, quiet ones all the way to the annoying, creepy ones who’d stalk a person all the way to a restaurant and then take creeper photos through a window of a private dinner then post that shit on the internet for the world to ogle at (Almost three years later, and Keith was still not over that invasion of privacy). 

Looking at the two who squealed they seemed… okay. So far.

Lance tucked away his phone and put on a practiced smile. It was a little too bright, but still genuine.

The boy was the first to talk, his cheeks a little red. “S-sorry about that! it’s just… your Lance McClain right?”

“The one and only.” Keith rolled his eyes. Lance had used that line more times than he could count.

“And your Keith Kogane!” the girl added, her voice strangely similar to bells.

Keith cleared his throat. “Yeah. Uh, nice to meet you?” He wasn’t as good at this like Lance was.

“And you! Oh, were super sorry about bugging you. It’s just, well we’re both big fans of Voltron. And of you too Keith. When I recognized you, I kind of freaked out.” She flushed, her hands clasped together and fumbling.

“Aw, no worries.” Lance assured them. “We were just taking a little breather from all the fun. Did you guys want a picture?”

The boy flushed even more. “No, th-that totally fine! We already kind of interrupted your date.”

It went back and forth like that for a while and eventually a picture was taken. The boy and girl were incredibly thankful and disappeared back into the crowd chatting excitedly. Keith leaned into Lance’s side, his head resting on the taller boy’s shoulder.

“They were really nice.” He commented.

“Yeah, they were. I like running into fans like that.”

“Better than others I’ve seen. At least they didn’t ask me for a picture.”

“How the hell are you so camera shy? You’re a model.”

“I prefer the term camera selective.”

“You’ve been hanging out with Pidge and Matt too much. Your sass levels are alarmingly high.”

“You should spend more time with the two of them. You don’t have any sass whatsoever.”

“Rude.”

Keith grinned, finding Lance’s hand and intertwining their fingers. “C’mon. I think it’s time for your first churro of the day.”

“You know me so well.”

After Lance had his snack in hand, the two walked hand in hand down the pier. They followed the path back to Cars Land where they went on the other two rides in the area and then headed off to ‘a bugs land’. This was the one part in the park where Lance didn’t feel the need to go on every ride. It was a cute place, made mainly for little kids with giant clovers and blades of grass towering over them. It was supposed to create a feeling of being small, like a bug and it was kind of interesting to see how that theme played out. Lance did point out that two of the giant clovers were actually for leaf clovers and preceded to ask for a kiss under the shadow of one.

(“But Keith, its good luck!”

“It’s only good luck if you pick the clover, Lance.”

“Well since it’s like, a hundred feet tall a kiss will have to do.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Pucker up, princess.”

“Ugh, why do I like you?”)

Lance got his kiss and them the two were off to Tower of Terror. Keith dared his boyfriend to keep his hands up in the air during the entire ride. They both managed to do it which made for a particularly funny picture with the two of them sitting in the back row with their arms straight up in the air and grinning like crazy at one another.

It was well past noon at this point and Keith was ready for some actual food instead of just snacks.

“Nope, I’ve plans for and early dinner that you are not going to ruin.” Lance narrowly dodged tripping on the curb in Hollywood Land.

Keith rolled his eyes following his boyfriend into a brightly lit building. The large sign out front read Animation Academy, with several different things advertised in colorful poster on the wall. If anything, it looked like they were going into a movie theater.

“Lance? Where are we going? Is this another ride?” Keith asked as they walked in.

“It’s not a ride, but it’s one of my favorite places to come and just chill for a bit.”

Keith was about to poke fun at him, maybe make a comment about the fact that he’s incapable of being chill, but that was before he turned the corner. This place wasn’t anything like he expected. The room was wide and open, a few plush benches on the side where parents were talking a moment to rest. The ceiling was incredibly high with colored lights shining down on them. But the walls? The walls were filled with giant screens, placed almost randomly next to each other. Some hung straight, others were tilted at an angle and one or two smaller screens were placed over one another.

The images on display were from the movie Tangled. There were large displays of concept art for the characters as well as beautiful paintings of the backgrounds used in the film. On a few of the screens, the actual movie played. It was during the one of the songs, the one with Rapunzel and Flynn sitting in a boat while they waited for the lanterns to rise. It was a song Lance had sung plenty of times.

The music began to swell and with it, the paper lanterns on the screens began to rise. Lance was humming along, scooting close to Keith and interlacing their hands.

“Isn’t this place nice?” he asked.

“Yeah… I had no idea this place even existed.”

“Me either, till a couple years ago. Me and Sara were trying to hid from our mom. She’d gotten us these cheesy family shirts that had our names on them and a Mickey head on it in this really bright yellow color. Those touristy type shirts that you keep laughing at.”

Keith nodded. He’d seen a few families like that around and couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness.

“Anyways, Sara had just ditched ours back in Buena Vista Street and Mama was heading straight for us while we were trying to get to Tower. I pulled Sara in here and we hid for the next few hours.”

“Hours?”

“Yeah. There’s actually a few cool things you can do here. Oo wait! This is my favorite part.”

Keith looked up and realized that all of the screens around them had suddenly changed. All of them were filled with lanterns, floating along magically to the sounds of Rapunzel and Flynn singing together. A smile crept up on Keith’s face, only made wider when he looked over and saw the light in Lance’s eyes.

Once the song had finished, the lights changed and another Disney movie began to play.

“Cool, huh?”

“Yeah. Cool.”

“Now come on! We have to see what Disney character you are!”

“What.”

Without an explanation, Lance tugged Keith towards an entrance marked the Sorcerers Workshop. They spent time in the workshop, drawing and messing around with the different things in there and then were off to the Beast Library further down the hall. This was what Lance was talking about earlier. Inside the small replica of the library from Beauty and the Beast, there were tables with ornate chairs. There were open books at each table where they each played a little game to find out what Disney hero  or Villain they were.

Keith got Robin Hood. Lance, the Mad Hatter.

When it came to villains Lance got Hades and Keith was Maleficent. Needless to say this gave Lance way too many ideas for Halloween.

The coupled took their time, watching the colored lights in the main room change with each new movie clip it played and even took part in a little art class in another part of the building where they learned to draw Jack Skellington. Lance must have had a timer on his phone of something, because the moment the two left, the parade was just about to start.

Unsurprisingly, Lance seemed to know most of the words to upbeat pop song the different Pixar characters were dancing too and even waved to the dancers who were walking by. The colorful floats passed by one after another, each one more extravagant than the rest. When it finally came to an end with Mater cruising along behind the last few dancers, Keith felt his stomach grumble. He tugged on Lance’s sleeve.

“Any chance that early dinner is happening soon? I’m starving.”

Lance pulled out his phone to check the time. “Guess we can head over. Still got about 20 minutes till our reservation, but maybe they can seat us early.”

“Reservation? I didn’t know the restaurants here took reservations.”

“Only a few do.” Lance said cryptically.

They wiggled they’re way through the crowd, the after parade traffic a little overwhelming. Thankfully, they didn’t have to go too far. Hollywood Land led back to Buena Vista Street, the entrance of the park. Just to the left of a large tile fountain was a tall building that Keith honestly thought was just another store. It was called Carthay Circle and as it turns out, it was the restaurant where Lance had made reservations.

Just like the street outside, inside was a beautiful recreation of 1920’s style and grace. The Cast Members were dress in sharp looking vests and jackets, all of which were a muted gold color. The seats in the lounge were adorned in plush red velvet, and there was delicate looking crystals hanging from the multiple light fixtures. If the place was seeped in smoke then it would truly look like something out of a movie. For once, Keith felt a little under dressed.

They didn’t wait too long, only just long enough to order a cocktail, till the hostess led them up a wide stair case to the dining area. Keith felt a little better about his outfit when he saw a man wearing a large Goofy hat sitting at a table they passed.

They were taken to the back, where the cool dark atmosphere changed drastically. There were large windows here that faced Grizzly Peak, with the pier and roller coaster just a little ways off in the distance. Their waiter brought them menus and water politely introduced himself before going off to his other tables. Keith looked up as Lance nudged his knee.

“So, whatcha think? Surprised?”

“A little. I didn’t know a place this nice could be in a place so cheesy.” Keith glanced down at the menu. “They have crab fritters, Lance. Crab fritters.”

“You like crab? I thought you didn’t like shell fish.”

“I don’t, but still. It’s kind of hilarious that a place that serves Mickey shaped waffles also has crab fritters. Oh hey, they have Dulce de Leche for dessert.”

 “What? Are you shitting me?” Lance held his menu practically up to his nose and read.” Warm Dulce de Leche Marshmallow Turnover? Guess were gonna have to leave room for dessert then.”

The menu had a little bit of everything which made it so much harder to choose. Keith and Lance kept going back and forth over what to get and Lance even roped in their waiter to help with the decision. Eventually they decided to order three appetizers to share, after realizing they wanted to try those the most. It also was guaranteed to leave them with plenty of room for a dessert or two.

“So, got any random facts about this place?” Keith asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Possibly. You sure you want to hear me ramble on some more? I’ve kind of been talking you ear off all day.” Lance was twirling his water glass, eyes focused on the ice spinning round and round.

Keith sat up, noticing the hint of negativity in his voice. Lance tended to do this sometimes. Just like Keith sometimes let his worries take hold of him, Lance sometimes got into his head that people didn’t like hearing him talk a mile a minute. Sure it was a bit overwhelming at first, but Keith had grown used to the endless waves of Lance’s voice. It had become a soothing constant in his life that Keith loved dearly. But just like how Keith sometimes needed reassurance, so did Lance.

“Last time we came, you said that Walt Disney came to California with only $40 in his pocket. Is that true?” he asked casually, trying to coax Lance out of whatever bad feeling he was having.  

A pleased grin made its way on his lips. “Yeah… you remember that? That was like, a long time ago. Years, actually.”

Keith shrugged. “It was interesting. Guess I never really thought about how all of this started.” He motioned to the theme park outside, people walking on the path below them going about their fun.

“Well, did you know that before Mickey, there was Oswald?”

“The weird rabbit thing I keep seeing?”

“Yep. See, Oswald was going to be Walt’s big name star, but the cartoons they made were under Universal which means they owned the rights. There was a falling out of sorts with some of the guys in charge, finical stuff, and eventually Walt left them behind and created Mickey instead. Disney didn’t get the rights back to Oswald till a few years ago.”

“That’s… actually really crazy.” Keith paused for a moment, happy to see Lance all enthusiastic again. “If things had been different, we could have had Oswald shaped waffles this morning instead of Mickey shaped ones.”

“True, true, although maybe not because making rabbit shaped waffles sound a hell of a lot harder than mouse shaped ones. The ears for a rabbit are just too long.”

“You make a good point.”

They talked and talked, mostly Lance going on and on about endless amounts of Disney trivia he knew. Keith knew that his boyfriend loved Disney, hell there were some nights he’d come home and Lance would be wrapped up in a blanket burrito singing along to _The Princess and the Frog_. But actually spending time with him in the park, seeing his eyes light up as dozens of memories from when he came to this place with his family all came whirling back to his mind, it was truly a magical thing to witness.

Lance loved things with nothing held back. It was either all or nothing, and when he was interested in something he’d spend his time learning everything there is to know about it. Lance was passionate about the things he did and even if this was just an expensive and crowded theme park, there were things here that were truly wonderful and memories both old and new that made this place important.

_I am so in love with this man._ Keith thought not for the first time today.

Their food arrived in the middle of Lance explaining the significance of the restaurant they were in.

(“SO, Carthay Circle was this theater in Hollywood that actually held the premiere of Snow White in the 30’s. Like, how cool it that!?”)

The three plates of appetizers look almost fake they were so perfect. Like the pictures in magazines or other advertisements trying to sell you things. Keith decided to poke the bear, as it was, and sent a Snap to Hunk with the caption ‘Jealous?’. In return all he got was the middle finger emoji.

Dinner was a delicious assortment of food, followed by two very rich desserts. Lance got his Dulce de Leche which was served with ice cream and Keith ordered a vanilla custard tart with a pear and cranberry compote. It was a far cry above the churro and cake pops they had earlier.

The young couple took a few more moments to relax and enjoy the view before they had to get going. After all, they had a Fast Pass to use. They thanked their waiter and left, heading down the path back to Cars Land.

Keith stretched his arms above his head, his body already getting a little tired from the long day of walking. “This better be worth it. We’ve waited literally all day for this stupid ride. I’m exhausted.”

“My dear Keith, I love you, but you have the worst stamina in the world.” He chided.

“Really? Pretty sure you were impressed with my stamina a couple nights ago.”

“K-Keith!?”

“You make it too easy.”

“There are children around. Children, Keith!”

“Not like they know what we’re talking about.”

“I can’t believe your corrupting the youth of America.”

“I’m not _corrupting_ anything. You’re just being dramatic.”

“And now you wound me with your words. My fragile heart can’t take much more of this torment.”

“Oh for the love of-“ Keith did the only thing that would assuredly shut Lance up. He grabbed a handful of his boyfriends’ shirt and pulled him close, tilting his head slightly to get the perfect angle for a kiss. Lance hummed happily, gently cupping Keith’s face with his warm hands. They stood in the middle of the path, oblivious to the people moving around them. Regardless, Keith was pretty sure he heard a wolf whistle aimed at them.

A little embarrassed, Keith pulled back, biting his bottom lip.

“And score for the blue team.” Lance smirked much to Keith’s confusion.

“Huh?”

“I made a bet with myself that I could get you to kiss me in the middle of walkway. Y’know, stop traffic?”

“Really? You can’t earn points with a bet that you made with yourself. The game doesn’t work that way.”

“Hey, who’s winning anyway?”

Keith blinked, thinking. “Um, I don’t know. I actually stopped counting a while ago.”

“Me too.” Lance laughed.

Keith smoothed out the front of Lance’s shirt, rolling his eyes at how ridiculous they both were at times. Who would have guessed that a sappy moment like that would make his heart pound like a drummer high on adrenaline? Three years ago in the summer before he met Lance, Keith would have scoffed at the idea of being swept off his feet by what a was basically, a scene from a rom com. If it were anyone other than Lance standing next to him, Keith might have felt uncomfortable with such an obvious display of PDA.

But this was Lance, the boy who sang to him when he couldn’t fall asleep. The boy who he could share his insecurities without judgment and who comforted him when he needed it. Lance was also just as comfortable sharing his problems with Keith, opening up to him when things weren’t exactly all rainbows and butterflies. Keith felt more at home standing next to Lance then he ever had in his entire life, and he just knew, the two of them were in this for the long haul.

“C’mon, you nerd. We’ve got a ride to catch.” Keith and Lance made their way through the thinning crowd of people. 

* * *

 

The ride they had been waiting all day for was near the very back of Cars Land, the entrance tucked away near the base of the mountains. Having a Fast Pass didn’t mean that they were going to get on the ride right away, but their wait was significantly shorter. Keith glanced at the normal line and saw that it had a wait time of 120 minutes. They only had to wait 30 minutes.

The ride vehicle was actually a car, with three seats in the front and three in the back. Keith sat where the steering wheel would have been with Lance right next to him. There were four cars loading in at same time and Keith was pretty sure the girl who showed them to their car recognized Lance. Judging by the wide eye stare she gave him and the stutter as she spoke, it definitely was a possibility. Either way, it didn’t matter now that they were moving.

Lance adjusted his backpack by his feet and turned to Keith. “So, you excited?”

“Considering I have no idea what to expect, not really.” The cars were all line up one right after another. A Cast Member was checking every seatbelt before sending them off on the ride.

“Good. It’s better not to get like, too hyped. That way it’ll take you by surprise.”

The Cast Member made it to their car, having them tug on their seatbelts to make sure they were locked. Once everything was good, they were off.

The car sped up, following a turning track that was bordered by trees and other shrubbery. The path turned, the music getting louder as they approached a waterfall. The air smelled like dirt that had been soaked in rain.

Once passed the waterfall, the ride took them into a dark tunnel. Keith’s eyes didn’t have time to adjust before a loud honk sounded, followed by headlights from another car blinding them. Their car sped up, weaving around traffic until they were out of the pretend danger. That’s when the characters from the movie started to show up.

Keith wasn’t particularly fond of the movie Cars, but that didn’t stop him from staring in wonder at the animatronic vehicles. Their eyes and mouths moved just like they did in the movie and it was impressive to see them all act so seamlessly. If he were a little kid, he might have actually believed that these characters were real.

The ride was a bit slow after that, taking the riders through a tiny story before sending them off to a starting track. Keith looked to his left and saw another car full of people lining up beside them. Next to him, he could see Lance grabbing onto the handles in front of them. A count down started and as soon as they said go, both cars shot out onto the track.

The beautifully carved mountains Keith had been looking at all day were actually a race course. The cars raced side by side, swerving around giant boulders and passing cacti. The path straightened out and Keith could see multiple dips coming their way. The first one was perfectly fine, but the second made his stomach feel like it had flew up to his throat. As they came around a curve, another dip was fast approaching. Keith heard Lance shout ‘picture’ moments before a flash shot off. Coming around the final curve, the car next to them pulled ahead.

“DAMMIT.” Lance yelled as the cars slowed abruptly. “We lost! Damn, I thought we got a winning car.”

Keith was still a little windblown to say anything so he just shook his head and chuckled at his boyfriend. The cars pulled into the loading station and they hopped out on the opposite side from where they got in. Keith followed the crowd up a stair case where he was greeted by four screens showing pictures from the ride.

Lance hurried over, practically squealing when he found their photo. “Aw look at you, you look confused as all hell.”

“Well a warning would have been nice.” Keith nudged him with his elbow.

“I said there was going to be a picture.”

“Yeah, two second before it happened.”

“Eh, it’s the thought that counts.” Lance snapped a quick picture of the image on the screen before heading out. Once outside, the cool night air was beginning to settle over the park. The neon lights that decorate Cars Land began to flicker on one by one.

“So, what now?” Keith asked, smoothing out a few wild strands of hair.

“Well, there is one more thing I want to do, but it’s not for another hour. Think you can last that long?”

Just then, they passed a vendor serving Mickey shaped pretzels. “Maybe. If you get me one of those pretzels, I just might make it.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Alright, but only because your too cute.”

Keith got his pretzel and Lance got another churro and they were off to Paradise Pier yet again. Getting closer, Keith could see a huge crowd taking up nearly all of the space near the edge of the water. There were ropes blocking off certain sections and tones of Cast Members directing traffic. Lance pulled out his wallet and took out two Fast Passes that looked different from the others they had used today.

Handing them off to a Cast Member, the couple was let into one of the blocked off areas and stood facing the water. On the other side of the bay sat the roller coaster and Ferris wheel, both of which didn’t seem to have any riders on it.

“Alright, so what is all this about?” Keith asked.

Lance answered his question with another, more random question of his own. “Okay, so you know that fountains at the Bellagio in Vegas?”

“Uh, yeah? I’ve been there a couple times. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well the show were going to see was inspired by the Bellagio fountains.”

“So were standing here waiting for a water show?” Keith’s voice dropped into something incredulous. The fountains at the Las Vegas hotel were beautiful, but it was certainly not something to stand around for an hour waiting for. If that’s all this show was, it made no sense for all these people to be here.

“It’s a little more than that.” Lance assured. “It’s like… it’s like the Bellagio fountains were shot full of the Fairy Godmothers magic and then doused with a couple of barrels full of pixie dust.”

“Okay. But don’t blame me if I fall asleep during your little water show.”

Lance didn’t say anything. He just smiled and took another bite of his churro.

The hour dragged on until suddenly the lights grew dim. Even the lights on the rides behind the water went out, making it even darker. The crowd around them swelled, almost feeling like they took a collective breath as everyone’s attention focused on the water in front of them. The music began, a drumroll followed by a chorus of voices. A few of the fountains began their dance, looking just about impressive as Keith guessed they might. Sure it was cool that they were following the music, but was that really worth standing around for?

The chorus abruptly stopped, and a wide spray of water took up most of his view. They used this spray like a screen, projecting a quote on the screen before Tinkerbell came in and it disappeared, covering everything in little bursts of light that twinkled like starlight. All the sudden, the energy changed. Voices echoed around the quiet pier sounding almost otherworldly as they called to one another. Looking down at the water, little bursts of water were jumping up and down from dozens, possibly hundreds of smaller fountains. The water from these fountains was lit up so brilliantly that it almost looked like paint the colors were so damn vibrant. And then the music really began.

“ _The world is a carousal of color…_ ”

The fountain truly began their dance this time. The water that shot up into the air moved and swayed effortlessly to music, colors dancing amongst the spray. They rose higher and higher, higher still until Keith was sure they rose above the top of the rollercoaster. The water screen from earlier returned, with two more on either side. Projected on to them were different characters and actions from movies the he recognized. Lasers cut through the water, their beams crossing over one another and dancing around just as much as the water. The lights on the Ferris wheel behind the show were lighting up too, matching the beat of the music perfectly.

Okay, so this was a little better than what he was expecting.

This wonder continued as the music moved onto more familiar tunes. Songs from _The Little Mermaid_ and _Fantasia_ , _Aladdin_ and _Pocahontas_. Once the familiar piano tune from _Up_ began to play, the whole crowd made ooo’s and ahhh’s when balloons filled up the three water screens.

The spray from the fountain was actually making Keith shiver. He huddled closer to Lance who slipped his arm around Keith’s shoulders and tugged him close.

After a few cute scenes with Disney heroes, the pirates came out to play and with it came the fire. There was actual fire, bursting out of nowhere and swaying with the water. The heat was intense, even from as far back from where they were standing. Keith couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be in front row.

Once that part of the show had ended, the show dove right into the wildebeest stamped from _The Lion King_.

“Don’t tell me they’re going to show us Mufasa dying. That’s a dick move.”

Lance giggled. “Yeah, it’s a little morbid, but the song they play afterwards is one of my favorites.”

Keith’s interest was piqued. There were plenty of times Lance had play him a song he liked. Either using his iPod or performing it himself. It made him wonder if it was a song he knew and if so, which one?

Mufasa died and Keith’s heart might have broke a little bit hearing little Simba call out to his dad over the speakers. The music started up again, a melody that was barley familiar. Lance leaned down and began singing along in Keith’s ear.

 

_You’re in my arms_

_And all the world is calm_

_The music playing on for only two_

_So close together_

_And when I’m with you_

_So close to feeling alive._

 

The sad scenes of various Disney movies on the screens began to melt away, leaving the audience to watch all of the happier ones. The parts of those beloved films when the romance was front and center and the two characters were coming together for the first time.

 

_So close to reaching_

_That famous happy end_

_Almost believing_

_This one’s not pretend_

_And now you’re beside me_

_And look how far we’ve come_

_So close, so close_

_And still so far._

Keith wasn’t too sure what happened next in the show. The music around them grew and the lights suddenly were a blinding white, but all he was focusing on was Lance. All he felt was the press of their lips, the warmth in the chest pushed up against his own and the happiness that seemed to grow with every passing second.

The brilliant colors reflected off of Lance’s blue eyes. Keith marveled tiny freckles that dotted his cheeks and the lashes that were far too long to be fair. The kiss had ended a while ago, but the two were still wrapped up in one another, smiling like idiots.

“Have I told you today that I love you?” Lance asked, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the show still going on.

“You might have mentioned it once or twice.” Keith answered with a wry grin.

“Well that’s not nearly enough. I love you, Keith Kogane.”

Keith blushed. “I love you, Lance McClain.”

Lance grinned, leaning down once again to steal another kiss. 

* * *

 

The walk back to the parking garage felt like it would never end. Keith was dragging his feet long before they even got to the trams and by the time they finally arrived there, they had to wait amongst a crowd of people to get on. Keith was complaining the whole while, wondering why exactly he decided to wear boots.

Once they were finally on, he leaned heavily on Lance while a family of four sat next to them with two passed out kids sitting on the parents lap. Keith thought about following their lead, but decided it might be a little weird if he, a 25 year-old young man, were to curl up on his boyfriends lap to sleep. Honestly it was something he had done before, but not in public. Well, not _sober_ in public.

When they made it to their destination and rode the escalator all the way to the top, Keith got his second wind of energy and practically sprinted to the car. He called shotgun, not waiting to drive for any reason and made himself comfortable in the passenger seat.  

“I cannot wait to get back to the hotel.” He mumbled. The car hummed around him, the music playing softly.

“Yep. Got to get that beauty sleep for tomorrow.”

Keith nearly forgot he was so tired. They still had a whole other day at this theme park. He groaned. “I think you’re trying to kill me.”

“I’m just trying to show you a good time, babe. And I’ve got ever more planned for Disneyland tomorrow.”

“This is how I die. Killed at Disneyland by my overexcited boyfriend.”

“Not a bad way to go, honestly.”

“Just bury me at the Haunted Mansion.”

“You got it, love.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: I worked at Disneyland back in 2012, when Cars Land and Buena Vista street first opened. So I have deep love for California Adventure even thought it's not quiet as magical as it's neighbor. 
> 
> I still adamantly refuse to address the fact that Tower of Terror is no more and the Animation Academy is honestly one of my favorite places in both parks. Hmmm, what else...
> 
> OH! I can't for the life of me accurately describe World of Color (the show Lance and Keith go to at the end). Its, for lack of a better word, magical. So here's a [video](https://youtu.be/KhUPzPcAO1w?t=1s) of it. The song Lance sings is about 24 minutes in (long, i know). World of Color is a show that keeps changing and updating with the times. This just happens to be one of my favorite versions of the show.
> 
> Any who, thanks for reading and stay tuned to see what mischief they get up to in Disneyland :D


	2. Disneyland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a [map](https://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/images/disneyland/Disneyland_Map.jpg) of Disneyland for reference :D

A little background:

A week before they went to California, Lance had introduced Keith to Disneybounding. The subtle art of putting together an outfit that was inspired by a Disney character. Like expected Keith took to the idea like white on rice and immediately began texting Allura about it. The next day he woke up, Lance was greeted with a Snap from the space goddesses herself.

She was standing in front of a full length mirror clearly sporting an Ariel Disneybound. Seafoam green leggings with light lilac dress over the top, a pair of seashell earrings, and red bangles on her arm. All of that coupled with the red lips stick, and she looked like hipster Ariel ready hit up a local coffee shop. The text on the picture read ‘am I doing this right?’ followed by a dolphin emoji. Lance quickly responded with a ‘hell yes’ and then realized that he might have created a monster.

The bigger monster, as it turned out, was Keith. Lance came home that very same day after a long day at the studio to find the apartment they shared completely covered in clothes.

Keith was a secret hoarder of clothes. Most of it was gifts from designers or stuff he _borrowed_ (ie: stole), so he didn’t want to get rid of it. Pants, shirts, scarves, shoes, dresses, jewelry, skirts, leggings, pretty much any type of clothing you could think of, Keith probably had it. It’s a wonder he only really wore the same black hoodie and faded leather jacket during the winter.

Trekking his way through the now unfamiliar terrain of his living room, Lance realized that they clothes were laid out into sets. They were all outfits Keith had put together. They were all fucking Disneybounds.

“Oh my god…” Lance dropped his backpack and immediately took a video of the chaos. He put it up on Instagram with the caption ‘Made the mistake of telling my bf about Disneybounding…’.  The response he got was both immediate and hilarious.

One of the few good things that came out of that day was that 1. Keith realized that he needed to donate some of his hoard and 2. Lance was now currently in their hotel room, beaming at the fact they were going to Disneyland dressed up as Belle and the Beast. They were going with outfits inspired by ballroom scene with Lance being the beast and Keith as Belle.

Lance rolled up the sleeves on his cardigan. The material was pretty thin, but he was still probably going to feel uncomfortably warm during the afternoon. A sacrifice he was more than willing to make for the sake of fashion. He wore a plain white shirt underneath with dark jeans and a yellow belt. Hanging around his neck like always was the lion pendant Keith had given him a few years ago. It fit pretty well for the theme of his outfit. Minus the fact that his hair just didn’t want to lay flat in the back, Lance was ecstatic with his casual Disney prince look. People were bound to recognize the characters they were trying to emulate.

Glancing at his phone, he realized that they were running behind schedule. “Keeeeeith… we’re gonna be late.” He groaned, striding over to the bathroom. He nearly tripped over a discarded yellow shirt on the way over.

“Pretty sure the park will still be there if were there after opening.” Keith called back. Lance picked up the shirt and tossed it into the open suitcase. Looks like Keith vetoed outfit number one.

“Well duh, but it’s like the best feeling when you the first few in the park. I want to run to Matterhorn before… uh before…”

Lance finally got to the bathroom and he couldn’t remember a time when he ever been more flustered. Not even when he first asked Keith out on a date was he this red, but when his super attractive boyfriend worked his magic and became even more stupidly attractive, it was almost too much to bear.

Keith was wearing a loosely fitted tank top the fell just down to his thigh. The color was a soft yellow, not nearly as bright as the shirt Lance a tripped over. His hair was half up half down, similar to the way the princess wore it. Around his neck was a thin black choker and a long sliver chain that had a little red rose on the end. Throw in black leggings that hugged him in all the right ways and expertly drawn eyeliner, and Lance all but swooned. And Keith, that asshole just smirked, knowing full well the response he was going to get long before Lance turned the corner.

“So. Are you still going to yell at me for making us late, or am I forgiven?” His stormy eyes were just full of mirth, obviously enjoying himself at the moment.

It took Lance a few moments to remember how to breathe. “… you are forgiven. And I am really, _really_ tempted to make us even later.”

“What’s stopping you?” Keith sauntered forward, his hand resting on Lance’s hip. His willpower being tested, Lance’s knees wanted to buckle when he felt Keith’s thumb edge it’s way under his shirt and begin to rub his bare skin.

“Uh— well see, w-we still need to grab… grab... food! Yeah, you- your probably hunger- _hungry_ \-  and I’m hungry and… and… aw shit just, man, I’m just gonna kiss you.”

Keith managed to laugh for brief second before Lance pulled him in for heated kiss. A kiss that carried them from the brightly lit bathroom back out to the bedroom before causing the two of them to crash onto their barely made hotel bed.

A little needless to say, they ended up being late.

 

 

The atmosphere was lively by the time they got to the park. The early morning air cool and crisp against his skin. Lance felt the familiar buzz of excitement in the air as he took in his surroundings. They were still outside the park, standing in the middle of the line that was their only obstacle to a day full of fun. His fingers tapped against his thigh impatiently.

“So, what do you have planned for today?” Keith asked, his attention focused on the phone in his hand.

“Magic.” Lance answered simply.

“Is that going to be the only answer I get?”

“Yep. Better get used to it.”

“Whatever. Can I request a Starbucks stop before you drag me all up and down this place?”

“What, tired already? Come on, all we did this morning was fool around.”

Keith looked up from his phone. “I was actually referring to the fact that you kept me up all night. Honestly, you and your family were just here. And yet last night you were just as excited you were when Destiny’s Child performed at the Super Bowl.”

“O-kay, first off Kelly and Michelle popped out of the ground like the fiercest looking daisies I have ever seen—

“Is that a Mulan reference?”

“— and second, I can’t help myself. I just really get excited when I come here, y’know?”

“I’ve noticed.”

“It’s like… every time I come I think of all those other times. Like all those times I came with my family. Bringing my little cousins here the first time, taking my nieces, I remember all those trips and just get excited to make more memories. Does that make sense?”

Keith had a smile on his face and a soft look in his eye. The sight was hidden quickly by a pair of round sun glasses. “You’re a sap. But it’s kinda sweet.”

Lance grinned. “Only kinda? I’m losing my touch.”

Keith responded by bumping Lance hip with his own.

Finally, they made it passed the gate. The women who scanned their tickets commented on how cute their outfits were and Lance was practically gushing. Dragging him away, Keith led them towards Main Street where the familiar sights and sounds greeted them like an old friend.

“Alright, what random fact are you going to start out with today?” Keith asked, already heading towards the Starbucks buried in the shops on Main Street.

“Hmmm let’s see… oh!” Lance’s gaze quickly shot over to the firehouse on the left hand side. “Okay, so you see the fire house over there? The window overhead with the lamp on?”

“Yep.”

“Well, that used to be Walt Disney’s apartment.”

“Really? He lived here too?”

“Sometimes. Story goes that he just liked being here so much that sometimes he would stay the night just so that he could see the park in the morning. Also, he used to slide down on a fire pole instead of using the stairs.”

“What, really?”

“Yeah, that was until some Guest decided to shimmy their way up the pole. Ruined the fun for dear old Uncle Walt.”

Keith snorted. “I could totally see you doing that.”

Lance turned, his mouth agape. “What? I would never break into Walt Disney’s apartment!”

“You’re telling me that you don’t want to go in there?”

Keith might have had a point there. It was every Disney nerd’s dream to at least see inside Walt’s apartment. He glanced at the window once more, thinking about it. Still, he didn’t want to give Keith the satisfaction of being right. He pulled his laughing boyfriend along, his own cheeks flaring.

Once they had their coffee in hand, Lance began the route of his master plan. First, to Star Tours where they secured Fast Passes for 11:15. Then off to wait in line for Space Mountain. The wait was long enough for them to finish their drinks and by the time the caffeine fully kicked in, they were boarding the ride. Thrilling as always, the two exited the ride positively buzzing.

“Okay, now for a Space Mountain story time,” Lance snapped the picture of them on the ride and continued with Keith by his side back toward the heart of Tomorrowland. “One time, me and Sara went on it and something was wrong or whatever, but like right as soon as we got on, all the lights went on. So like, all the effects were ruined, but once we got into the main part of the ride, y’know right before it gets fast, I looked down and holy shit, that place is amazing.”

Keith tipped his head to the side. “What do you mean? I’d think it look kind of lame with all the lights on.”

“It was the exact opposite, hon. It’s flipping _huge_. And the track kinda of like, spirals down, and granted with the lights on it wasn’t nearly as exciting but damn, it just was so cool to see what that place actually looked like.”

“You nerd.” He rolled his eyes, pushing his sunglass up on his nose. Lance chuckled, pecking Keith on the cheek quickly.

After avoiding being arrested by a pair of passing Storm Troopers, the couple fought to the death on Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters, where Lance turned out to be victorious. The game-like ride was one of his favorites and after years of practice he knew exactly the targets to shoot and just how horrible the aim was on those clunky laser guns. He boasted his Space Ranger status on Instagram.

Ignoring two of the rides tucked into the corner of Tomorrowland (mainly because his long legs barely fit in the cars of Autopia), Lance led them to the Matterhorn.

The tall mountain was a staple of Disney history and one of Lance’s personal favorite. Of course thanks to its refurbishment, Lance liked it even more. Before, the ride vehicles had the riders basically sitting in each other’s laps. Combine that with near contest jostling from the ride and Lance had a particularly embarrassing story when it came to him and a family friend whom he invited on a trip way back when.

Keith, being the ever supportive and kind boyfriend, was laughing his ass off in the middle of the line. He wheezed, clutching his chest and bent over, on hand on Lance’s arm holding him upright.

“Holy— holy shit man! So you… you totally popped a boner in the middle of Disneyland. On a ride, too!”

Lance was beet red. “Yeah well, she was like my first crush! Her ass was literally in my lap and the ride was all… bouncy…”

“Ahhh… fuck that was funny. Wait, do the others know about this? Does Pidge?”

“No, and they will _never_ know. Right Keith?”

“I don’t know, hon, that’s kind of a juicy secret. I don’t know if I can keep it to myself.” The look in his eyes was downright evil. Even the rare use of a pet name didn’t calm Lance’s nerves. Keith stood, brushing away a wild strand of hair. “I guess if you buy me lunch, I can keep my mouth shut.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “You and food… I swear you would do anything for a free bowl of pasta.”

“What can I say, I like what I like.”

After the embarrassing story time, the line for the ride was moving steadily. Much to Lance’s joy, the ride now had three separate little seats per toboggan, meaning that there would not be a repeat that particular story. Lance sat, having to fold his legs in order to sit properly in the seat. Keith was sitting right in front of him and was practically wiggling with anticipation. Out of all the rides they went on the last time they were here, this one was one of his favorites.

One seat belt check later and they were off into the dark caverns of the Matterhorn Mountain. The ride hadn’t changed much in the past hundred times he rode it, but Lance had a blast regardless. The cave the entered was pitch black; the only sounds were the clang of the wheels on the track and a hollow wind that echoed through the mountain. A roar rumbled from the depths of the caves as the resident yeti made its presence known.

Finally, the dark cavern gave way to light and the toboggan they were seated in tipped over the edge. They zoomed around the mountain, sailing up and down, turning hard and dropping fast. The blurred view of both Tomorrowland and Fantasyland flew past as they wound their way from the peak of the Matterhorn to the bottom.

The ride ended with splash at the toboggan skidded to a stop in the small pond at the base of the mountain. Lance couldn’t stop grinning as he felt the water spray across his face, his heart still beating at a rapid pace. Of course once they got off the ride, there was no time to revel in the excitement. They had a space adventure to go on.

Lance and Keith sprinted to Star Tours, determined to make it there right on time for some reason. Of course halfway through, it turned into some crazy race where not two, but three separate Cast Members told them to stop running.

Once inside, Lance couldn’t seem to stop himself from taking pictures of everything and sending them to Pidge. They loved Star Wars more than Lance loved his beauty sleep and sending pictures of their favorite ride was going to be torture for his short friend. Pidge hadn’t visited Disneyland since they were all kids, but the last time the Holt family came, Pidge rode Star Tours at least 9 times. Matt threw up after the third. Apparently the older Holt sibling had a bad spell of motion sickness when he was younger.

The fast past lived up to its name and in no time they were standing in front of bay doors with 3D glasses in hand, ready to go on a completely different type of adventure.

“Is this a roller coaster?” Keith asked. Lance completely forgot that they didn’t go on this one last time.

“Nope. It’s so much better.”

“If this is like that stupid bug show we went to yesterday, I will actually tie you to the train tracks and let you get run over.”

“Nah it’s not like that. Well, not entirely.” He shrugged.

The doors opened, the passengers from the last ride already out and on their way. The young couple was sitting in the back row, close to the door. Keith already had his 3D glasses on and fumbled a bit with the belt on his seat. Lance reached over and buckled it for him, chuckling all the while.

“That’s why they tell to wait until you put on the glasses.” He smirked.

“I could have done it.”

“True, but then I would have missed that cute little face you make.”

“What face?”

“That ‘ooo Lance is so hot, I love it when he does stuff for me’ face. It’s super cute. You get all red.”

“I-I don’t make that face.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Lance—“ any argument was cut off by the Cast Member at the front asking to check their seatbelts. After looking at all the rows, she pressed a few buttons on a control pad and left, the door closing behind her.

The adventure began with the familiar hum of C3PO’s voice coming over the intercom. The panel in front of them retracted and the protocol droid himself was sitting behind it. 3PO was stationed in front of a large screen were images were brought to life with the help of the glasses sitting on their faces.

They were inside a hanger, the ‘ship’ they were in was jostling like they were actually lifting off the ground. As soon as the hanger opening was in sight, a patrol of Storm Troops  forced them to stop, followed by Darth Vader standing on some sort of weird hover board.

The Sith lord demanded they land, claiming that they had a rebel spy on board the ship. Lance eagerly looked to the tiny screen just to the right where he knew an image would be popping up of the spy. Every one of his siblings had been the rebel spy at one point and Lance was hoping that this was turn. But of course, it wasn’t.

A hazy image of his boyfriend appeared on the screen and Lance out right snorted with laughter.

“Th-that’s me?” Keith gawked.

“I knew you were a spy!” Lance practically shouted much to the amusement of the people around them. All they sudden they were thrown into action as Darth Vader tried to stop the ship from leaving. The ship shuttered as Vader raised his hand to pull them along by using the force. With a few quick shots from their blasters, the ship flew back and away from danger, aiming for the wide open expanse of space.

The stars blurred as they went into hyper drive, the sensation so real it was like they were actually traveling through space. Went everything came back into focus, the screen in front of them showed the brilliant white snow of the planet Hoth.

The unforgiving ice planet took them on a whirlwind of a ride that left the two of them grabbing onto their armrests as they swerved in and out of danger. After tumbling down a cliff, 3PO finally managed to get his shit together and angled the ship towards the stars once again. Gliding through space, a holographic message from Princess Leia played, asking them to help escort the rebel spy to safety.

Lance leaned over to Keith. “So, rebel spy, can I get you to introduce me to the princess?”

It took a second for Keith to even react to Lance’s question. He looked positively enamored with images on the screen. He shook his head, laughing a bit before playfully shoving Lance’s arm off the arm rest.

The next jump of hyper drive lead them to the planet of Naboo, where they were cruising underwater in the beautiful GunGun city (The city was cool, even if the inhabitants were weird as fuck). Of course, that serene ride was ruined after a giant fish monster tried to eat them. A chase ensued with the ship shuttering and shaking around them until they managed to escape the terrors of the ocean and popped up in the crown city of Naboo where they crashed into a grounded ship.

The ride ended with C3PO telling them they were all a part of the rebel alliance now and disappearing behind a wall. The lights came up and everyone undid their seatbelts to leave.

Once outside, Lance looked at Keith and grinned at the look on his face.

“I’m guessing you have a new favorite now?” he joked.

“That was… awesome.” Keith smiled.

“Bet I can make it awesome-r.”

“I kind of doubt that.”

“There are 54 different versions of that ride.”

Keith actually stopped walking, frowning. “What?”

“It’s randomized. Different planets, different spys, different enemies… 54 different combinations.” That random fact seemed to break poor little Keith. Lance made a mental note to squeeze in another adventure on Star Tours before the day was done. “Alright, let’s go, rebel spy. I’m gonna buy you a t-shirt.”

The t-shirt in question had the phrase ‘I am the Rebel Spy’ printed on the front.

The morning was now shifting into the afternoon and Lance realized that the grumbling in his stomach could no longer be ignored. Instead of actually sitting down and eating a proper lunch, Lance managed to convince Keith to snack the day away and that resulted in a mini trip around Disneyland, collecting all of Lance’s favorite Disney foods.

He steered them to Main Street where the stopped by the Jolly Holiday to pick up éclairs and macaroons. Then to the entrance of Adventure land where they waiting in line for the famous Dole whip, enjoying the treat while watching the adorable spectacle that was the Enchanted Tiki Room.

(“Dammit Lance, I’m going to have this song stuck in my head all day.”

“ … _where the birds sing words and the flowers bloom_ …”

“Stop singing.”

“ _In the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room_!”

“I hate you.”)

The fruit stand in front of the Jungle Cruise was there only indulgence in something heathy, but that was quickly dashed when Lance tossed his grapes in his back pack and opted for churro instead. Their bellies were close to bursting with all the snacks and only then did they decide to go on more rides.

First there was Jungle Cruise, where Lance admitted was the inspiration for many of his corny jokes. They scooped up a fast past for Indiana Jones and then swerved over to Big Thunder Mountain when they saw the wait was only fifteen minutes. Lance kept his hands up the entire ride and laughed like a lunatic as he continuously slid on the seat, crashing into both the side of the car and Keith over and over again.

Pirates of the Caribbean was next where the almost musty and wet smell of the ride made him feel like a little kid again.

“Something about the smell in here is relaxing.” He sighed as the line edged closer to the boats.

“You think? Smells kind of weird to me.”

“Disney water, Keith. It’s magical.”

“It’s regular water, Lance. Probably filled with kid pee and old soda.”

“Nooooppe. It’s different, and it smells great. Don’t ruin this for me.”

“Whatever you say, nerd.”

The pirate clad Cast Member pointed them to their row and the couple climbed into the rocking boat with other vacationers ready for a charming ride. The boats pushed off the docks, slowly moving into the cool and dark bayou. To the right was a restaurant, with lights strung over the dinners and candles flickering on the tables. Lance hadn’t told him yet, but he actually made another reservation for that particular restaurant later that night. It was another surprise he felt like adding, not for any real reason besides the fact that he wanted to. He wanted to spoil Keith on this vacation simply because he could. Not wanting to give away his dinner plans, Lance decided to ask a question.

“Do you think if I ask, someone will throw me a bread roll?” It sounded like a joke, but he was very much serious.

“Don’t even.” Keith scolded.

“Why not? Doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“What if the person throwing the bread roll has terrible aim and it hits someone?”

Lance looked back at the tables. There was a good amount of space between the river they were floating in and the shore, but it wasn’t too far. He shrugged.

“I’m surprised your argument didn’t include my catching abilities.”

Keith shrugged. “Thought about it, but you’re a pretty good catcher.”

“Huh, innuendo?”

“Yeah.”

“Nice.” Lance high-fived his boyfriend.

The boats slowly drifted past the restaurant and a voice drifted across the shallow waters. The sound of rushing waters and delighted squeals became more prevalent the further they sailed. A talkative skull, mounted above the water warned them of the dangers of pirates, moments before their boat tipped over the edge of a waterfall. 

* * *

 

The atmosphere in New Orleans Square was always the liveliest. The narrow streets with people filtering in and out of the shops, the cobble stones underfoot that were worn from years of use. There were character artists, a rowdy band of pirates singing shanties, and just the feeling that people actually lived here when the theme park Guests left. The iron railings that adorned the second stories were rundown and old looking, with Mari Gras beads dripping from almost every edge possible.

This place was more atmospheric in a way. It felt more alive. Along with the shops that sold typical Disney merch, there was also a perfume store that Mrs. Disney had a hand in opening way back when. There was a cart where delicate looking parasols were sold, the option of having your name stitched on adding to the charm. There was a store filled with glass where all sorts of beautiful, fragile items were for sale ranging from small trinkets to large wine glasses and pitchers.

Gazing around at the items on display in that store, Lance’s eye zoomed in on trinket straight out of the Beauty and the Beast movie. It was the rose sitting elegantly in its glass case. With a smile, Lance snatched it up while Keith was distracted by a glittering assortment of glass sculptures in a case by the door. With his back turned, Lance went up to the register with his purchase in hand.

Before the boy behind the counter could begin his customary greeting, Lance motioned him to be quiet, pointing to the gift and then to Keith. The Cast Member grinned knowingly and quickly rang up the order. He wrapped up the gift in an extra layer of bubble wrap before handing him the bag.

“Happens all the time.” He quietly joked. Lance smiled and said a quiet ‘thank you’ before hiding the gift in his backpack. He walked up behind Keith and quickly intertwined their hands.

“Ready to get moving?” he asked. “We still have three rides to hit up on this side.”

“Sure.” After a moment Keith pouted in confusion. “Wait, three rides? There’s Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain… what’s the third?”

“The Grand Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, of course!”

The incredulous stare from the beautiful boy in front of him was downright hilarious.

“You’re not kidding, are you?” Keith deadpanned.

“Nope. Step on it, pretty boy.”

“Ugh.”

With the three rides finished in a little under two hours, the west side of the park was complete. It was then that Lance moved on into phase two.

With the main part of the park congested with the crowd gathered to watch the parade, Lance took Keith to Fantasyland through one of the small walk ways in Frontierland. The walked down a path near the Rancho Del Zocalo restaurant and turned abruptly away from the entrance to a different path. The atmosphere changed instantly as the passed into Fantasyland. The small area the entered was known as the Princess Fan Fair and was a cute little courtyard with a small replica of Rapunzel’s tower, a tent like theater and a princess meet and greet.

Lance made a beeline for said building, glancing up at the notice board at the entrance. On it was the name of three princesses who were currently inside waiting to meet Guests.

“Oh hell yeah, Belle is in there. We’ve got to meet her.” He tugged Keith along to the entrance where a small line had formed.

“Are you serious?” Keith asked.

“Very. C’mon, we looked fucking adorable in our Disneybounds and I want a picture with Belle.”

“You swear a lot for a guy currently surrounded by toddlers.”

“Oops.” Lance bit his lip, now aware of the fact that he just said ‘fuck’ right in front of an impressionable young girl. Luckily, the little girl seemed too enamored with showing her parents her autograph book to catch his profanity. Lance made a mental note to be a little more careful.

Choosing to come here during the parade was smart choice as the line to get to see the princess took a little over five minutes. Ariel was first and the beautiful red head beamed at their outfits, recognizing what they were immediately. Lance chatted with her easily, grinning at the flawless way she played her character. It was like the little mermaid hopped off the screen and appeared in front of him. Keith was a little more quite when it came to talking to the princess, but that was to be expected. The first time they came, the boy actually ducked a hug from Goofy, which Lance gave him shit about for the next hour.

(“I can’t believe you dissed Goofy like that.”

“He was just… really tall…”

“That’s it? That’s why you dodged him?”

“Doesn’t it freak you out that they’re just people in costumes? Like isn’t that weird?”

“Are you kidding? I’d _pay_ someone to let me be Goofy for a day! Dude that would be so cool!”)

Despite his hesitation, Keith readily took a picture with the princess, even talking to her a bit when she complimented his outfit.

Next was Snow White who was cute as a button. Lance had the urge to hug her and never let go. Snow positively loved their outfits and was particularly laying out the compliments to Lance, calling him a dashing looking prince. The compliments made him puff out his chest a bit more and stand a little taller in the picture. That is until Keith poked him in the stomach and Lance let out an embarrassing squawk-like sound.

Last but not least was Belle. Her attention went straight to Keith and she positively gushed about their matching outfits. After being taken aback from a moment, Keith thanked her and began chatting easily. At one moment, the ball gown clad princess joked about trading outfits because his looked so comfy. Keith had no objections.

They each got a photo with her individually and then one together, hugging the fair princess as they said their goodbyes. Lance scrolled through the pictures they took on his phone and beamed.

“Look how cute this is! Look at it!” he pushed the screen into Keith’s face.

“I see.” He chuckled. “Send that one of me and Belle. I want to post it.”

“You got it, babe.”

The parade was passing the front of the castle as the couple casually strolled through one of the side entrances to Fantasyland. They appeared right in the castle courtyard where the crowd was significantly thinned due to the festivities happening outside the castle walls.

“You’ve been slacking on the random facts.” Keith commented. They walked slowly towards the rides, looking at which was the shortest.

“Huh, I guess I have.” Lance looked around, thinking. “Oh, I got one. The castle is Sleeping Beauty’s, right? Well the park opened in 1955 but the movie _Sleeping Beauty_ didn’t even come out till 1959. That’s why it doesn’t look anything like the castle in the movie.”

“Weird. Couldn’t they have just used a princess castle they already had?”

“Probably, but where’s the fun in that? Alright… let’s see…. Oh! Peter Pan’s Flight was the first ride to have the track above the riders instead of below.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does when you go on it. C’mon, there’s only a 30 minute wait!”

Keith was confused to why this particular ride had such a long wait time, when all the other storybook rides looked almost empty. Lance kept his mouth shut, wanting to keep it a surprise.

By the end of it, Keith had another favorite ride.

They tore through Fantasyland, going on Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Pinocchio’s Daring Adventure and Alice in Wonderland. Lance even managed to get Keith to go on Dumbo the Flying Elephant. While standing in line waiting to board the Tea Cups, Lance continued to rack his brain for random facts.

“… see the lavender tea cup with the flower? That one spins the fastest. Found that out the hard way when I was nine and Theo was in charge of spinning our cup, that mad man. That was the last candy apple I ever had.”

Keith made a face. “Gross. Let’s try not to have a repeat of the today, okay?”

“I’ll try my hardest.”

The gates opened and Lance made a beeline for the lavender cup. His long legs felt cramped in the space and kept bumping against Keith as he sat down across from him. The other cups were filled and soon Alice’s voice was drifting over them, welcoming them to her tea party. The music started and the cups slowly began to move. Lance and Keith began to spin the wheel in front of them, faster and faster until the world around them was nothing more than a colorful blur.

The smile on Keith’s face was positively breathtaking. He was laughing, full and bright, his storm colored eyes shining with joy. Lance knew he was smiling like an idiot as he watched Keith. A familiar warmth spread from his chest to every point of his being, as vibrant as it was the first time he realized his feelings. Three, almost four years, and Lance was still hopelessly in love with Keith.

These feelings hadn’t faded one bit in all this time, if anything they had only gotten stronger. He loved every side of Keith, even when they bickered or didn’t agree on something, he still loved the man who stumbled into his life because of some ridiculous crush Lance harbored for years. Their journey was filled with ups and downs, but one thing remained a constant. Lance loved Keith, and Keith loved Lance. And really, what more did they need?

Lance’s head was spinning long after the tea cups stopped. Keith doubled over laughing when Lance had to take a moment to steady himself once they left the ride.

“Still can’t handle the spinning?” Keith chided.

“Oh shut it. You were spinning that damn tea cup like a maniac.”

“Are you going to throw up?”

“Nah, just need a sec to regain my balance. Jerk.” Lance got his revenge by using his puppy dog eyes to convince Keith to go on it’s a small world.

By this time, the sun was beginning to set and the two needed to head back to Adventureland to use their fast passes for Indiana Jones. They hopped on the train and rode it around the park, relaxing their tired bodies for a little while. Around Fantasyland to Tomorrowland, stopping at Main Street before they finally reached their station in New Orleans Square. They hurried through the thickening crowed to the ride, nearly losing each other in crowd. Lance latched on to Keith’s hand as they crossed over into Adventureland and took out his wallet to grab the passes.

Indiana Jones had to be Lance’s absolute, number one, favorite ride. It was a classic and Lance and his siblings had ridden it multiple times a day in the past. Everything from the thick trees surrounding the line, the intricate details of the temple, and the interactive parts of the line all lead up to a great ride that never got old.

Lance and Keith were ushered to the fast pass line where they almost immediately entered the temple. Inside the air was cooler, a relief from the stuffy almost humid atmosphere outside. The temple hall wound this way and that, with symbols and different pictures etched on the walls. Parts of the celling were made to look like they had caved in, where thick roots dangled down into and the sky was just visible amongst the tree tops.

They ventured on at a steady pace, the line stopping only a few times as they traveled deeper. Passed the bat invested caves, the path lead them to a narrow hall with holes in the ceiling and a single bamboo pole stood on the left. On either side of path, there were spikes on the ceiling and floor, close down on one another like teeth. As soon as Lance was close to the bamboo pole, he wrapped both hands around it and pulled.

There was a boom and a little kid shrieked. Small spikes appeared in the holes that dotted the ceiling above them and the whole thing shuttered as it moved down a few inches. Of course it wasn’t like they were actually going to be impaled. This was Disneyland after all. After a few moments, the ceiling went back up and the spikes were gone. Lance giggled and continued on ahead.

“You get way too excited sometimes.” Keith was looking back at the pole where a little girl was tugging on it harshly to no avail.

“That a bad thing?” Lance asked, genuinely concerned.

The smile on Keith’s face when he turned back around was answer enough. “No. It’s one of your redeeming qualities.”

“Aw Keith, that was— wait what do you mean ‘redeeming’? Why do I have to redeem myself?”

“The line is moving, Lance.”

“Keith! Don’t change the subject!” he whined.

“I’m not, just pointing things out. And for the record, one of your not-so-redeeming qualities is not reading the care instructions on my jeans.”

“Omg, that was _one_ time and I was in a rush! I didn’t know they were in there.”

“You shrunk my favorite jeans in the dryer!”

“You have three hundred pairs of black jeans!”

“They were my favorite! They were worn in _perfectly_.”

“Oh please, they were torn in four different places and one of those places was the crotch. You weren’t going to keep them much longer.”

All the sudden, Keith’s mock anger face cracked and he was grinning. “Shit, we really do sound like an old married couple sometimes.”

Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist and pulled him in for a quick peck on the cheek. “Don’t tell, Pidge. They’ve been saying that for years and I hate for them to realize they were right.”

“I won’t say a word.”

* * *

 “Another amazing adventure with the legendary Indiana Jones. Honestly, the ride never gets old.” Lance was practically skipping as they made their way out to the main walkway of Adventureland.

“It is pretty fun.” Keith agreed. “So, what’s the plan now? Dinner?”

“Yep. Got another surprise for ya.”

“You really planned this out.”

Lance took out his phone and checked the time. “Not well enough. Hurry, we’re gonna be late!”

The tall young man latched on to his boyfriends arm and zoomed down the path. They dodged strollers and children alike in an attempted to get to the restaurant on time for their reservation. They turned sharply down the first street of New Orleans Square, passed a few stores until they were at the entrance of the Blue Bayou Restaurant. Lance checked in with the hostess, noting that they were about a minute late. She didn’t seem at all annoyed by that fact and happily motioned to a waitress who popped up by her side.

The lobby of the restaurant was small, with polished marble floors and mirrors on the opposite walls. They were quickly led out to the sitting area where the atmosphere changed dramatically. Suddenly, it was night time they were in the heart of a Louisiana bayou.

Seeing this place from the boats that drifted past on Pirates of the Caribbean is one thing. It’s a completely different experience to be sitting on the other side. Just like at Carthy Circle, it was hard to realize that this was in a theme park. Paper lanterns hung low overhead as the lines holding them up crisscrossed over one another. There was a tall willow tree with long branches dripping with leaves above some of the tables. Lance looked up and realized that there was no ceiling. At least, not one he could see. Blame it on his eyes still adjusting from the sunlight, but it looked as though the night sky was on constant display above their heads.

Their waitress lead them to a table closer to the water, the swirling iron work on the chairs and tables fitting in beautifully with the rest of the atmosphere. They sat down, menu’s passed and greetings exchanged, and then they were left on their own to decide on what to eat.

“This was a surprise.” Keith was inspecting his menu, his brows raised.

“A good surprise?” Lance asked.

Keith looked up and his eyes narrowed. “You’re spoiling me. What did you do?”

Lance sat back, feigning shock. “What? I am appalled! Can’t I just treat my precious little boyfriend to a fancy meal every once and a while?”

“Frist off, stop calling me little. Second, this is two nice-ish restaurants in two days. It’s a little suspicious.”

Lance kept up his mock hurt for a little while longer before settling down into a more or less, serious mode. “To be completely honest, I just kind of want to. Spoil you, that is.”

He looked up to see that he had Keith’s undivided attention. He’d put down his menu and was watching Lance intensely with his storm colored eyes.

“Okay, real talk for a sec, next few months are going to be busy for the both of us. And well, even though our anniversary isn’t until November, I was kind of thinking that this could be out pre-anniversary celebration. Just in case we aren’t in the same country when the day actually rolls around.”

Even with the dim light of the candle on their table, Lance would know that Keith was blushing like an adorable little fool. His eyes were wide and smile so big it was contagious. Lance felt himself flush and quickly took a sip of water to try and contain himself.

Keith sighed and took up his menu again. “You are such a sap. And I kind of love it.”

“Love you too, hunny bunny.”

“Please don’t call me that in public.”

“So then, it’s cool in private?”

A swift kick to the shins shut him up quickly.

Lance swore that his eyes glazed over while looking at the menu. When Disney decided to get fancy with their food, damn did they go the extra mile. After going back of forth for far too long, he decided on the salmon with a side of gumbo and Keith went for the chicken with a house salad. For drinks, Lance got a mint julep.

“Non-alcoholic? Aren’t Mint Juleps supposed to have bourbon in them?” Keith had taken a sip of the drink and frowned.

“This is Disneyland, Keith. No getting drunk at Disneyland.” The drink in question was very sweet without the addition of alcohol and bobbing up and down inside was a blue glowing iced cube that Lance happily paid extra for.

“Fun fact—“

“You don’t have to announce the facts when you say them.”

“—FUN FACT. You cannot buy alcohol in Disneyland. Like, anywhere. Well actually, there’s Club 33 but you already know about that place.”

Keith snorted. “Yeah cuz on the ride over here you would shut up about it.”

Lance had just discovered that the list to be a member of the elusive club was currently closed, with no hope of opening up anytime soon. Then again, he wasn’t exactly eager with the idea of paying a yearly fee of $25,000 just to be a member. His current annual pass to the theme parks was more than enough.

“Another fun fact: you can totally get drunk in California Adventure and then scurry on over to Disneyland before it closes for a magical experience. And yes, I’m talking from experience.”

“The rules don’t apply over there?” Keith asked, a curious tilt to his head.

“Separate park, separate rules.” Lance shrugged. “I have some excellent pics from one such occasion. Me and Sara had just drank through all four sets of the Mad Tea Party band, which they are pretty heavy handed when it comes to pouring their drink FYI. Anyways we wandered back over here and went to Pixie Hollow. Super cute place to meet the fairies during the day, but empty at night so people can wonder in and out. I stuck my head inside a giant fake bell flower amongst other things. Mari was 16 and obviously completely sober, so she took a shit ton of pictures.”

“I need to see these pictures immediately.”

The pictures in question weren’t on Facebook, but Lance’s sisters were happy to dig through their phones if it meant embarrassing their brother. They also added a heap of child Lance photos including his fourth grade school picture where he had a black eye.

Most of this embarrassment was typical of his family. The first time Sara and his older brother Theo met Keith, it was like the two had declared war on their younger sibling and fought dirty with heaps of embarrassing stories that left Lance utterly mortified. Now he was unfortunately used to it and realized that there was never going to be an end to his siblings good natured, albeit annoying, meddling.

Keith wasn’t holding back his laughter one bit. He even made the picture of Lance sitting cross legged on a trashcan his screen saver.

Their gumbo and salad arrived, and a then not long after they finished that the main course landed on their table. Everything smelled absolutely delicious and Lance was about to dig in when Keith swatted his fork away. His boyfriend insisted on a taking a picture of the food and sending it to Hunk, the little shit. Lance grinned because really, he was doing the same thing by torturing Pidge with Star Wars pictures. They all really were the best of friends.

Dinner was casual and comfortable. The rich flavors of food such a stark difference to the snacks they engorged themselves with hours ago. Lance wanted to be buried in a mountain of the cheddar mash potatoes that came with his salmon while Keith was guarding his risotto with an actual knife and only let Lance have a small fork full.

That sat with their bellies fully and plates cleaned for a while longer before flagging down their waitress.

“How was everything?” She asked while staking the plates on top of one another.

“ _Heavenly_.” Lance beamed.

“Good to hear.” She reached into her apron to pull of the check. In a flash, Keith grabbed the thing and snapped it closed with cash inside. Lance made a grab for it.

“Uh-uh, nope! We agreed to split all the food.” He reached across the table to no avail.

Keith smiled pleasantly at the waitress while keeping the check out of Lance’s reach. “I don’t need change. Thanks again.”

She grabbed the check and head off drop off the dirty dishes, thanking them profusely.

Lance glared at Keith. “No cool, bro.”

The dark hair boy shrugged. “You’re not the only one who can spoil their boyfriend every once and a while.”

That had Lance blushing like a fool. 

By this time, the sun had set and the theme park came alive in a completely different way. The cool night air was beginning to settle on the area and the lights of the various rides glowed brightly. Lance checked his phone, seeing that it was still a good few hours before the show he wanted to go to.

They killed time by going back over Tomorrowland and going on Star Tours once again. Neither of them were the rebel spy, but this time Yoda spoke to them instead of Leia and they went to Tatooine and Coruscant.

A large crowed was gathering for the fireworks as they continued to wonder to waste time. New Orleans Square was off limits because that area was currently full of Guests watching Fantasmic (the very show they were going to see at its second time of 10:30). The courtyard of Fantasyland was closed as was Toontown due to firework fallout.

So they wandered. Through the stores of Tomorrowland where they built lightsabers and tried on funny hats. Keith eyed the trading pins and ended up buying a few that he liked. They went into Innoventions, which had actually been renamed to the Tomorrowland Expo Center. The top floor was dedicated to the Avengers, with all of Iron Man’s arsenal on full display. Down stairs was dedicated to Star Wars where props from the newest movie were littered about. Lance momentarily had a breakdown when he realized that they could have gotten a picture with Chewbacca. They missed the meet and greet by hours.

Out of Tomorrowland and too Main Street, where after fighting with the firework crowd, they peacefully walked down the street through the connected stores. More pins and more silly hats, Lance picked up a few of Hunk’s favorite candies along with a Kylo Ren mug for Pidge. Keith found a pair of black and red sequenced Minnie ears for Allura and they two of them were debating on getting Shiro a very practical phone case, or a not so practical pair of Mickey Mouse slippers. They went with the slippers.

They wasted more time by going to the gallery of Disney art hidden at the beginning of the street and then watching the show Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln in the opera house. By the time they were done, they had just an hour to spare, giving them plenty of time to make their way back to New Orleans Square.

Going against traffic on Main Street, it was like they were two salmon swimming upstream. Lance held onto Keith tight, pulling him along as they retraced their steps back to the west side of the park. It took a while, but eventually they were turning that familiar corner near Tarzans Tree House where the Rivers of America opened up.

There was already a large crowd gathered in the space by the river’s edge and Lance tried to find a spot as center as possible. Once satisfied, he turned to Keith.

“And now we wait.” He said.

“I swear, half of this place it standing around waiting for stuff to happen.” Keith said with a huff.

“Patience, young padawan.”

“Yeah, yeah. So what’s this show about? Is it like the one we saw yesterday?”

Lance contemplated that for a moment. “Yes and no. There is fountains and water screens involved, but this one is so much better.”

“Oh yeah? I don’t know, World of Color was kind of amazing.”

“Don’t get me wrong, it is. But Fantasmic just has a little something extra. I would explain, but it’s better if you just see it for yourself.”

“Alright, if you insist.”

The wait didn’t feel like long, what with the two debating back and forth about the existence of ghosts. Keith was all gung ho about things like aliens and bigfoot, but when it came to ghosts he was much more skeptical.  Time dwindled down until eventually the wait was over. The soothing voice of the announcer came over the speakers. The excited hush of the audience drew their attention to the river in front of them and the small island that sat on the opposite shore.

The familiar music began to play as towering lights rose from the island and danced across the river. The orchestra swelled and in a flash, Mickey Mouse himself appeared on the island in a glittering black and red suit. Trumpets sounded as the main fan fair played out.

* * *

 

“I can’t believe they actually used the pirate ship in the show. Peter Pan was actually flying around a pirate ship.”

“I know, love.”

“And that dragon? How in the hell did I not know that Disney keeps a fire breathing dragon under the ground?”

“Maybe because this is only your second time to Disneyland, Keith.”

“Still, that was really cool.”

“Told ya.”

Much to Lance’s joy, Keith was just as impresses by Fantasmic as he was World of Color, maybe even more so. The mixture of the actual characters, the fireworks and the water, it was a perfect combination of the three that made for a magical experience. Lance remembers the first time his dad took him to see the show, when he was 8 and annoyed that he wasn’t quiet tall enough for the Matterhorn. It was one of his favorite memories of this place, just him and his dad watching as Mickey Mouse fought against the forces of evil.

“What was your favorite part?” Lance asked. They decided against the trams this time, walking back to the parking garage instead.

“Defiantly when Mickey killed Maleficent with that sword. It was kind of badass for the mouse.”

“True, true.”

“What’s your favorite part?”

“Oh the ending for sure.”

Keith raised a brow. “Really? I thought you didn’t like endings.”

“To most things, yeah, but when that river boat sails around the corner with those pinwheel fireworks spinning like crazy, man it’s the best. And then when Mickey in his sorcerer’s outfit, magically setting off all those fireworks? It’s like magic is real and we get to watch it.”

Keith’s smile was easy and content, full of affection that didn’t need to be spoken. Lance leaned over and stole a kiss, without even breaking his step.

Back at the garage, on the escalator heading back to their car, Keith was getting sleepy. He was fine for most of the walk back, but now the fatigue truly hit and the boy was practically falling asleep where he stood. Lance led him back to the car and opened the door for his sleepy boyfriend. By the time he got around to the driver side, Keith was already fast asleep with his seat leaned back as far as it would go.

Lance smiled at the sight, taking a moment to make sure that Keith’s seat belt was buckled. Before he could pull out of the spot, his phone began to buzz in his pocket. Lance swiped the screen, accepting the call.

“Hey buddy.”

“Tell Keith to stop sending me food pictures or I will convince Shay to stop making him muffins.”

Lance giggled softly. “No can do, Hunk my man. You know I have no control over Keith. Guy does whatever he wants. Besides, like Shay is really going to stop baking him things. She loves getting his opinion.”

Hunk grumbled something on the other end, probably realized that it really was an empty threat. “So how was the vacation? Are you at the hotel?”

“Nope, just leaving for it in fact. We’re heading home tomorrow after check out.”

“That was going to be my second question. What time does your flight get in again?”

“5:30.”

“Cool, I’ll be there to pick you up.”

“You’re the best, Hunk.”

“I know.”

Lance couldn’t help be watch Keith sleep during the entire conversation. In the past few months, there had been something nagging him in the back of his mind that he could never quiet put his finger on. It wasn’t anything bad, per say, just something. Something that felt like it needed to be said.

“Hey, Hunk? I got a question to ask you.” He kept his voice quiet as he could, so not to wake Keith.

“Yeah? What is it?”

Lance took a breath. “What do you think… what would _say_ if I asked Keith to marry me?”

The subtle gasp on the other side of the call made his heart pound. After a few moments of silence, Hunk came back sounding incredibly excited. “I would say that I’m incredibly happy for you, that you should do it, and that if I’m not your best man I’m filing for a friend divorce.”

Lance chuckled. “Don’t worry, bud, you’d totally be the best man.”

“Good.” There was a long pause. “So, are you really going to ask him?”

“Yeah… someday. Probably not anytime soon cuz shit like that needs to be planned. And also, I kinda would want to talk to him about it before I pop the question. At least get it on his radar and see if he does want to get married. But… yeah. One day, I’m going to ask him. One day, I’m going to marry him.”

“Awww Lance! That’s too sweet.”

“I’m a sweet guy, Hunky Monkey. But, I’m glad you think it’s a good idea. I’ve kind of been thinking about ever since we got back together a couples years back, but didn’t want to say anything. Didn’t want to jinx us after the whole break up fiasco, even though we didn’t stay apart for long.”

“I can understand that.” If he could see him, Lance was sure Hunk would be nodding. “Well, when you do decide to ask, let me know if there’s anything you want me to help with. Ring shopping, surprise flash mob, anything.”

“Thanks Hunk, you’re the best. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See ya, buddy.”

Lance hung up the phone and looked over to Keith once more. He gently ran his fingers through that dark messy hair that he loved so much and grinned when Keith began to lightly snore.

It still may be awhile before it actually happened, but damn, Lance wasn’t going to let a person like Keith go. He was going to marry him. One day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO that story about Lance getting kinda drunk at Mad T then taking weird pictures in Pixie Hollow might have been based on me... there is a picture of my with my head in a bell flower... i'm horrible. Also I didn't go into detail about Fantasmic cuz it's my favorite i could probably write an essay about that damn show and this was getting long and yeah. i ramble.
> 
> (Also, please don't repost my art. I'm kind of proud of this one and have already put it on [my tumblr](http://alyxrae.tumblr.com/post/163547539371/these-two-would-totally-disneybound-when-going-to) )
> 
> ANYWAY thank you for reading! this turned out to be longer than I thought but it was so much fun to write!!! Hope this satisfied any fluff needs y'all had lol. Catch ya next time!


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